Fires destroyed church buildings, but not fellowship

Monday

Dec 23, 2013 at 12:01 AMDec 23, 2013 at 9:08 AM

CARDINGTON, Ohio - As the first notes of organ music settled over the Sacred Hearts Parish congregation, its members rose to sing as they have on countless other Sunday mornings. Instead of wooden pews, now they rise from thinly padded aluminum folding chairs. Instead of cushioned wooden kneelers, now only the cold, tile-covered concrete floor supports them when they kneel to pray.

Josh Jarman, The Columbus Dispatch

CARDINGTON, Ohio — As the first notes of organ music settled over the congregation, its members rose to sing as they have on countless other Sunday mornings.

Instead of wooden pews, now they rise from thinly padded aluminum folding chairs. Instead of cushioned wooden kneelers, now only the cold, tile-covered concrete floor supports them when they kneel to pray.

Undeterred, about 100 members of Sacred Hearts Parish, the only Roman Catholic church in Morrow County, gathered yesterday for early Mass — to pray for their families and friends and celebrate the spirit of Christmas.

Fellowship, community, family: Those are what make a church, they say, not a building.

And they would know.

Sacred Hearts’ nearly 40-year-old church burned to the ground on Thanksgiving Day.

Now, the congregation meets in the cafeteria of the Cardington-Lincoln Intermediate School, about 40 miles north of Columbus. A lack of students closed the school building two years ago, and the district superintendent offered to lease it to the church as its temporary home.

Already there is talk of choosing architects, hiring contractors and rebuilding their church. But just days before Christmas there’s also the counting of blessings and reflecting on faith.

“There’s a lot of things we’re blessed with,” said Jim Bush, 71, who has attended the church since he was 10 years old. “We could hold Mass in a pasture if we had to.”

Bush and his son, Andrew, both agree that the fire was somehow part of God’s greater plan for the congregation. One too big for them to see, but still something they want to take part in.

It’s an attitude that many congregants share, and one shared with members of another nearby church that was recently displaced by fire.

Gethsemane Baptist Church, near Marengo, about 10 miles from where Sacred Hearts once stood, burned on Dec. 10.

The cause has not been determined for either fire, though investigators from the state fire marshal’s office have said no sign of criminal activity was discovered in either blaze.

Bryan Miller, an elder at Gethsemane, said the outpouring from the community after their fire has been humbling.

Church members gathered for their first Sunday service yesterday in their new temporary home at a nearby church camp and retreat center.

Miller said his congregation also has faith that they are being led where they need to go next.

“We hold on to the promise that God will use this for his good will and his plan,” he said.

Instead of a Christmas service, Miller said the church’s pastor, Donnie Hale, has encouraged members to visit other churches during their holiday ceremonies to share the spirit of fellowship they were shown in the aftermath of the fire.

Even as firefighters were battling the blaze, three local pastors arrived at the church to offer their help, Hale said.

The church still is navigating the insurance process, he said, and is at “whatever comes before the beginning” of building a new church. But he is looking forward to making a new home, however temporary, at the church camp.

The Rev. John Bakle, who leads Sacred Hearts Parish, said the congregation was lucky to find a home like the school so quickly. They will host three Christmas Masses there this week: two on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day.

He officiated a baptism there yesterday, which in a way signifies the church’s resilience by adding its newest member, he said.

While avoiding cliches, Bakle agreed with his parishioners that the fire was just another chapter in the church’s long history.

“You never say a negative thing, or a disaster, is God’s will,” Bakle said. “He permits these things to happen to guide us in a new direction … because he wants us to do something better.”

jjarman@dispatch.com

@Josh_Jarman

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